Question

The competitive equilibrium rent in a standard two bedroom apartment in lawrence (a city) is $600. now suppose the city council imposes a rent control law, imposing a price ceiling of $500. what is the impact of the rent control law?

Answer 1

Setting a rent control price ceiling will cause the same impact as any other price ceiling that is below the market equilibrium price: it will create a shortage in the market. At the price equilibrium of $600, the number of renters would exactly meet the number of available 2 bedroom apartments. However, with this fixed price ceiling, the position along the demand curve will shift to one of higher demand, with no analogous change in the supply curve. Thus there will be more renters than can be supported, and renters will have to look for alternatives and substitutes.